More miracles?

While we’re talking about miracles, here’s one I’ve been trying to ignore for a couple of days. Reports of miracles among the Islamic faithful are rarer than among Christians, but there’s been a happening in Dagestan, a republic in southern Russia.

Religious leaders in Dagestan say the verse “Be thankful or grateful to God” appeared on Ali Yakubov’s right leg in Arabic script earlier this week, according to Reuters. By the time foreign journalists had arrived, the verse had faded to a single letter.

Reports say that the letters looked like a pink birthmark before fading.

The locals have a couple of explanations of the deeper meaning of the phenomenon. Most say that the writing is a sign that Allah exists and loves his people. One cleric had a less touchy-feely explanation.

A Muslim imam who visited Madina and her boy had a more apocalyptic take on situation, saying, “It is written that the closer to the end of the world, such signs will appear on a person’s body.”

The skeptics have an explanation, of course. They say that someone is scratching or otherwise irritating the baby’s skin to make the letters appear. Spoilsports.